The overall goal of the present NCI-sponsored Training Program in Medical Oncology at The University of Chicago is to provide outstanding scientific training for postdoctoral fellows in order to prepare them for careers as independent investigators in academic oncology. The direction of the program -- the vertical integration of training in basic and clinical oncology research -- has not changed since the program's inception; however, we have significantly enhanced our training in patient-oriented research in response to a national need. The proposed training in Oncology encompasses several academic units within the Division of Biologic Sciences and includes the Section of hematology/oncology, the Maclean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics in the Department of Medicine, the Department of Health Studies as well as involves a number of research laboratories of clinical and basic research scientists who are members of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. The proposed research training faculty preceptors interact on a number of collaborative research and training efforts. This interaction has been fostered by the close proximity of the investigators at the University of Chicago campus and particularly by their research activities within our comprehensive cancer center. Generally, research programs fall into three distinct areas -- patient-oriented research, translational, and basic science research. Our extensive inpatient and outpatient facilities promote a comprehensive clinical training experience, while our research laboratories allow for the acquisition of basic science skills. Our training program seeks to produce physician-scientists or clinical researchers who possess the skills necessary to bridge the gaps that exist between clinical medicine and basic science. Physicians completing our training program are trained to become the future academic leaders in hematology/oncology who are able to vertically integrate their knowledge from the bedside to the bench or from the bench to the bedside. Trainees will be provided with a problem-oriented approach to research (either a process or an approach within a disease or a specific basic science issue) and will be trained to study research problems using both laboratory and clinical research techniques.